Only Got into State Schools: How to tell Mom?

AVagrant
Sat, 29 Mar 2014 01:24:03 +0000

I’m a high school senior with a 4.0 GPA and a 30 on the ACT. I’m also Korean, with a single mother dead set on me going to an Ivy League, for obvious reasons but also because my dad went to Harvard. I applied to the standard Ivy League schools and several state schools (having moved in my high school years, I also considered schools in my previous state since I was thinking about moving back). My essays were pretty good in my opinion, as well as in my English teacher’s opinion, but I have been diagnosed with Asperger’s and pretty much bombed the interview Stanford had set up for me with an alumni. I worry that might have been why I failed to gain admission to “good” schools.

In any case, I got rejected by Stanford, Harvard, etc. as well as University of Chicago, and got into several minor state schools like University of Illinois. I was wondering whether this will doom me for life, as I’ve been led to believe my entire life, and how to break the rejection letters to my mom, who would be heartbroken and angry once she finds out. Does anyone have any advice?